Fragments of Corruption
by GreyRooftops
Summary: David, Anna, Maria, Steven and Zara. My imaginary friends. I only imagined David.
1. Before This Got Out Of My Control

_David_

Ketayi thinks I am xyrs* favourite. 

I am everything that is wrong with the world. 

I am disease; I am prejudice; I am pain. Yet xe finds a comfort in my being. Xe thinks I'm part of what puts everything in balance. 

In other words, I am the antidote to life. 

A corrupted soul. 

_Anna_

"David hates me. He hates anything of any good. I need a break from him. I'm going to Spain and Maria is coming too. Get rid of him. He's going to get you into trouble you can't get out of."

"But he imagined you."

"How could he have imagined me? I am the complete opposite to him!"

"He couldn't bear to be two completely different people any more."

"Is that how you think of me? Dave's counterpart? The thing that stops you falling apart!"

"Yes- without him none of you could exist."

"Get rid of him. You've got until we come back."

I stormed angrily away from Ketayi. Why does xe prefer Dave to me? Xe loves him. 

How can someone so belligerent be loved so dearly? _I _would have kicked him out ages ago. 

This anger flows freely through me. There's so much of it, I could create another galaxy with it. I hate David. I hate him. I hate Ketayi. 

Can't xe see what I am? What I can give to her?

I am love; I am beauty; I am happiness.

_Maria_

I peer through the crack between the door and the door frame, into the room Ketayi sits in, immersing xemself in Dave's music, which is dark and gloomy with lots of hidden meanings, which I can just about listen to without getting bored (on most days).

I watch xem until xe looks around at me.

"You're going with Anna then."

I'm not sure how to interpret her. Is xe upset or joyful? Is xe tired or energetic? Is xe angry or calm?

"Well, don't you need to go now?"

Xe's angry. That's about as much as I can work out. I count the ceiling tiles before replying.

"Yes."

"I won't miss you trying to kill me with recklessness," xe laughs.

Was that an insult?

Confused, I leave, hoping Spain will give me a chance to get everything in order.

_*Xe, xem, xyr, xyrs, xemself corresponds to they, them, their, theirs, themself. _


	2. Alone with David

_David_

It's lonely.

It's always lonely and dark and hopeless.

_Anna_

Maria had been indecisive about where in Spain we should have gone. She was indecisive about whether we should take then plane or the boat. She was uncertain about whether she wanted to go or not.

Eventually, I snapped.

"Make an effing decision, Maria. Or we are going to get on the next plane or boat to wherever it's going."

"That's a good idea."

I just stared at her.

"That way we can live without Dave's influence. Without him constantly looking over our shoulders."

"Fine."

Her uncertainty was infectious. It pulled up another emotion: joy.

I don't care how they're intertwined. The joy numbs everything else.

At this point, Ketayi would normally roll her eyes and surrender to me; Surrender to this boundless jubilance.

_Maria_

Anna was getting ecstatic.

And restless.

And energetic.

Soon, she was dancing on the spot, laughing at the men in customs. They couldn't see us: we're only imaginary.

She breezed through the gates and sat in an empty seat on the plane, in the VIP section (of course)- no real people can afford it.

Then she laughed and strode confidently towards the cockpit.

"Anna! _What_are you doing? You can't interfere with the natural order of things like this!"

"I can. I have the right to choose. And I choose to interfere with the natural order of things!"

I sigh. Anna thinks everything will make exceptions for her.

She thinks she's special.

I'm not sure.

My heart begins to beat faster, each beat sounding like an explosion in my mind.

I can't breathe.

My vision become clouded with darkness.

I can only see a thin tunnel of light.

I wait, hidden behind a wall of panic.

It will pass. Probably.

If this is what it is like to be Dave, I almost pity him.

I shake the thought from my head. Where does this kind of idea come from? How can my head have the capacity for all of this?

I feel sick.

I wonder if this is influencing Ketayi. I hope the distance is enough to protect xem.

Is xe under the sole influence of Dave? The darkness of his soul might take us out of existence. Xe might forget about us.

_Ketayi_

Dave and I are together. Without Anna's constant enthusiasm and Maria... Well, Maria's indecision, I suppose.

I can only wish for him to free himself from the corruption.

It will never happen.


	3. 735 tiles

_David_

I wake up this morning and feel different. I feel distant. I look around.

Ketayi isn't there.

I look at the clock: 06:54. Xyr alarm doesn't go off until 06:55.

It's possible that xe's already got up. Sometimes, if xe wakes up early and Anna is talking to xem, xe starts her morning routine early.

I hope so.

Yet somehow, I can feel xyr presence. In fact, I can see xyr figure. However, even this seems distant.

It's like I'm looking at everything through smoke.

Maybe there's a fire. Maybe we didn't turn the oven off. Maybe the electrics have exploded.

I look at the clock again.

Then I notice it:

The flashing light that shows every second has stopped.

The batteries must have run out. I must be late.

Panic riots in my blood.

I go downstairs to get breakfast, stopping to examine all the other clocks.

None of them are moving.

All of them are frozen at 06:54.

_Anna_

Maria and I booked ourselves a villa on the flight. It went to Seville.

The owner left the keys under a plant pot for us.

They left bread, cheese and wine. And a note to say the water was drinking water.

I threw down my bags.

Maria hovered in the doorway, counting the tiles on the floor.

She stepped in cautiously, as if she thought there would be an alarm that might be triggered by her only.

Of course, we didn't speak Spanish.

Well, we didn't need to go out yet.

_Maria_

There are 735 tiles on the floor of this flat.

I check the smoke alarms work.

They do.

Anna looks out of the window and smiles.

"Just imagine what a great time we're going to have! No Dave. No Ketayi. We're free! Shall we go out later? I heard that there are some good clubs around." She sounds carefree. I don't know whether to succumb to this freedom.

Is it real? Am I real?

"Yeah. Maybe we can make ourselves visible."

Anna doesn't see the sarcasm in this statement. She makes herself visible, and goes through her suitcase to find 'suitable' garments.

She's looking forward to this.

I'm nervous and restless.

I check the locks on the door. All secure.

I make sure there isn't more than one light on per person.

Of course, it's midday, and none of the lights are on.


	4. Paradox

_David_

I'm stuck in a paradox.

The thought hits me with a force similar to a bus. I stagger backwards, knocking into a mirror, which immediately shatters into a thousand parts of reality.

Although, this isn't reality.

Many of the shards have attempted to add to my collection of scars.

There's blood everywhere.

When the light catches the shards that have pierced my skin, I shine like a holy figure.

How long will this last for?

Will I ever see Ketayi again?

Panic seizes me. It is then replaced by despair.

Deep despair, that reaches into your soul and filters the world. Filters out all the good.

I miss xem.

I see the full extent of the loneliness that is woven into my life.

This won't end if I just wait for it. I have to do something.

What can I do to save reality?

_Anna_

Maria and I made ourselves visible and went clubbing.

Most of the people on the clubs turned out to be young people from Britain, so we didn't need to learn any Spanish.

Although I did stay up and start an online course in Spanish for the whole of last night.

I don't need sleep, I'm on holiday.

We stayed with a large group of British gap-year students and talked about everything from TFL to nuclear weapons. We drank too much, and by the time the sun decided to lift its weary head, we had been kicked out of every bar and club in the area. We sat on the curb and shouted at the passing traffic, receiving rude gestures and other signs of irritation.

The only conversation I can recall is as follows:

"Who are you then?"

"Anna"

"So Anna, where are you from?"

"South-West London"

"What? Like Croydon?"

"Yeah"

"Isn't that where everyone gets stabbed?"

"No- that's Sutton"

"Oh. Who's your friend?"

"Maria"

"And who imagined you?"

_Maria_

Anna's carelessness is infectious. Maybe it was mine originally. She's talked to everyone in the group and is receiving many flirtatious gestures. I don't think she realises though.

Suddenly I hear shouting.

Something is wrong.

Anna's always getting herself into trouble.

I rush over to see her attaching someone, who is too bruised to fit back.

"Anna!" I yell, "What are you doing?"

Everyone looks around confusedly at the sound of my voice and I realise that I have lost visibility.

Anna looks up at me and I embrace her, grab the wrist of her victim and slowly edge away from the scene. As soon as the excitement is over, the rest go back to shouting song lyrics drunkenly.

The victim comes willingly with us as we trudge defeatedly back to the apartment.

Something's still not right.

I lock the door behind us and ask both of them to sit down and explain themselves.

Somehow, there's another imaginary person here.


	5. Bagged Emotions

_David_

According to an unreliable source, there are 5 ways to get out of a paradox:

_1- Change the course of events._

_2- Make sure certain events always happen. _

_3- Break something. _

_4- Fix something. _

_5- Wait. _

I look at the list. 5 is not an option because paradoxes require something specific to happen. Nor 4, as it means I have to fix the broken mirror, all the clocks in this universe and probably 'fix' my corruption. 3 has already happened, and time hasn't started again, so that is an unlikely solution.

So just 1 and 2. I'm not sure how I can do either of these things with there being no time. Surely no time means no events.

Either my logic is wrong or I need to come up with option 6.

This is like an episode of Cube Escape.

Which means this universe is finite, and probably very small.

Yet there's still an infinite number of clocks, so option 4 is still not viable.

Which might also mean this building isn't what I think it is.

There shouldn't be a mirror here.

Which means the surroundings aren't what I think they are.

I notice a rip in the wallpaper. Underneath is a pattern I recognise. These are the walls from Cube Escape: Paradox.

Which means that I have to get to the lake and find Mr Crow, so he can get me out of here.

But how?

_Anna_

Rage sears my chest and clouds my thoughts. Who is this idiot? Why are they so full of themselves?

Also, they're beautiful.

If this is love, it's better than being with Maria all the time.

Maria has decided to turn this into into an interrogation. She worked out what was going on immediately.

I wonder if now is an appropriate time to start flirting. All I can think about is the figure in front of me.

"Stop staring, bastard."

So cute.

_Maria_

I think Anna has fallen in love with the bastard she started fighting. It's probably the lack of sleep catching up with her.

I've got to find out what's going on anyway.

"Who are you?" I'm not using euphemisms to find the truth. That never works. Plus, she'll probably lie.

"I'm Zara, and one of you imagined me."

It was probably Anna imagining what love is.

"What makes you think that?"

Her voice is confident and it grips my heart, giving me an uneasy feeling. Her words vibrate in the air after they have been said, as if somebody is trying to make her words last forever. She carves her sentences into the air, with each full of meaning, like a bag of emotion.

"That would be a good business," She says, "Bagged emotions, a fiver."

I get up and leave the room.

She knows what I'm thinking.


End file.
